UPC

burnaby

JustAddWater wrote: »

Wrong forum! You'd need to ask on talk to ...

Thanks for redirection - am a relative novice on Boards.ie

Cranipea

Can anyone advise on Horizon, is it worth getting for an extra tenner a month?! I'm in the Charlesland area. Thanks

Eponymous

It's a better product in terms of BB speeds and offerings, but the EPG and the UI are both pretty crap.

You're losing stuff like being able to skip forward/back 30 seconds, delete a series (your choices are delete one show or wipe your box, nothing in between) and also navigating through the now/next menu is shockingly slow. The big benefit is being able to record a few shows at once and watch another. Very handy for the odd time there's more than one decent show on at a time!

Larbre34

I agree totally about the navigation. However the HD offerings and increased capacity and broadband capability make it worth while. Dont pay the extra tenner either, we kept threatening to leave to Sky and we are now paying €20 quid less a month for more services. The lads in sales have huge discretion to offer discounts to 'loyal customers'

Alun

There's apparently an update in the pipeline (being tested by a few boardsie's at the moment) that adds series delete and speeds up the EPG a fair bit.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057264260

Cranipea

is €73 a month what you pay for Horizon TV & Broadband?

LEIN

I am testing the upgrade at the moment and it has made a massive difference. It seems that they listen to customers at last.

Skip by day being the best new feature. It is quicker too.

Personally, I have no issue with it.

There's no way I'd get a better service for the price I pay.

burnaby

Anyone else out there in the Greystones area who has had no analogue cable TV service from UPC for the last three to four weeks?

Have had no update from UPC, who initially denied there is a problem, but I subsequently found two other people who had had no service.

To all boardies who have gone digital / satellite, please don't laugh! There are still some people for whom a basic analogue package is enough - there's enough rubbish on 15 channels and I don't need 35+ more!!!

loyatemu

burnaby wrote: »

Anyone else out there in the Greystones area who has had no analogue cable TV service from UPC for the last three to four weeks?

Have had no update from UPC, who initially denied there is a problem, but I subsequently found two other people who had had no service.

To all boardies who have gone digital / satellite, please don't laugh! There are still some people for whom a basic analogue package is enough - there's enough rubbish on 15 channels and I don't need 35+ more!!!

time to move a Freesat/Saorview system maybe - there's plenty of advice on this over on the TV forums. There's an upfront cost but its free after that.

UPC don't give a toss about Greystones (apart from Charlesland), and I assume they only have a small number of customers left here.

Alun

OP, out of interest, do you actually pay for the analogue TV service separately, or do you get it effectively free as part of the broadband package? I was under the impression that the pricing of the cheapest digital offering was such that paying for analogue TV only had effectively been made uneconomical. Not to mention the quality of the analogue is terrible, especially on some channels such as BBC2.

burnaby

loyatemu wrote: »

time to move a Freesat/Saorview system maybe - there's plenty of advice on this over on the TV forums. There's an upfront cost but its free after that.

UPC don't give a toss about Greystones (apart from Charlesland), and I assume they only have a small number of customers left here.

Loyatemu
Thanks for suggesting Freesat/Saorview - I hadn't considered them, but will look at advice elsewhere on this site.

Not sure UPC doesn't give a toss about Greystones - all customers are sources of revenue, and that's really what drives companies.

However, UPC's customer service needs improvement - after three weeks without service, I got my first genuine engagement from the company today, and it seems that I'll be another 4 weeks without service.

Alternatives will be looked at!!!

burnaby

Alun wrote: »

OP, out of interest, do you actually pay for the analogue TV service separately, or do you get it effectively free as part of the broadband package? I was under the impression that the pricing of the cheapest digital offering was such that paying for analogue TV only had effectively been made uneconomical. Not to mention the quality of the analogue is terrible, especially on some channels such as BBC2.

Alun,
Yes I do pay for analogue TV service - that's all I wanted. Digital is not available from UPC where I live, I don't have a large screen modern TV, I don't spend much time watching TV and I had phone service and DSL from Eircom.
Quality of analogue TV was tolerable, but service reliability was poor - I had already had two or three outages of a few days this year, but my current outage has already been 3 weeks, and will probably be another 4 weeks. I understand why the delay is beyond UPC's control, but that delay is simply not tolerable. Having said that, living without a TV signal has some advantages - the old fashioned art of conversation has had a revival in my house, and there are fewer distractions to serious study!

loyatemu

what could possibly cause a 7 week outage? what is their explanation?

burnaby

loyatemu wrote: »

what could possibly cause a 7 week outage? what is their explanation?

Explanation was a bit vague, but I think it's due to cable damage, complicated by being unable to access the damage to repair it, and having to dig across a public road to re-route / replace the cable. You have to get permission from the local authority to open a road, and the application process apparently takes several weeks.

I actually have sympathy for any service provider that has to operate in an environment where such things take so long.

sje143

burnaby wrote: »

Explanation was a bit vague, but I think it's due to cable damage, complicated by being unable to access the damage to repair it, and having to dig across a public road to re-route / replace the cable. You have to get permission from the local authority to open a road, and the application process apparently takes several weeks.

I actually have sympathy for any service provider that has to operate in an environment where such things take so long.

Did you get an update from UPC? For me, at least, they have been silent. Still no service!

burnaby

sje143 wrote: »

Did you get an update from UPC? For me, at least, they have been silent. Still no service!

Sje143

Will send you a PM

Burnaby

burnaby

In case anyone is interested!

I received a text message from UPC yesterday afternoon. "UPC have resolved the fault affecting your service. If you are still experiencing problems, please call freephone 1908". I got the same message on 3 August, and on 29 July was told "This is an update from UPC. The breakdown in your area is repaired. If you are still without service please call freephone 1908"

It's five weeks since I had any service. UPC is a communications company - apparently they specialise in miscommunications!

And of course, despite UPC previously having told me that they couldn't provide service for at least 7 weeks, they've still taken another normal month's subscription from my bank account.

I concede - I must be stupid!!!! I've already given formal notice on my contract. Now I'm going to start looking for a refund.

Can anyone tell me what horrors that will entail?

Zoe zebra

For all in Greystones who still have problems with the upc signal, Carphone warehouse in the meridian centre currently has an offer of Sky variety package for 15 euro a month (it's 36 a month through Sky directly). No installation fee etc. and one year contract. I discovered it by accident and am moving.

Zoe zebra

sje143 wrote: »

Did you get an update from UPC? For me, at least, they have been silent. Still no service!

Had the same upc issue as you. No service since July. Gave notice and left them out of sheer frustration. Have just signed up with Sky. They have their variety tv bundle for 15 euro a month for one year (usually 36 euro a month). You can add on anything else to that eg 15 euro per additional room. There's free installation etc. The offer is only available til 12 october and you have to go into the Carphone warehouse (they're in the Meridian Centre) to sign up. I'd say so many people have left upc at this stage that they won't bother to fix the problem! Zoe

seamountains

Is Sky available all over Charlesland?

LEIN

seamountains wrote: »

Is Sky available all over Charlesland?

If you can see the sky, then yes?

wardie214

It's over

Zoe zebra wrote: »

For all in Greystones who still have problems with the upc signal, Carphone warehouse in the meridian centre currently has an offer of Sky variety package for 15 euro a month (it's 36 a month through Sky directly). No installation fee etc. and one year contract. I discovered it by accident and am moving.

Sasso

Bloody bloody hell. Rang up about three days ago about this offer. All great. Then while on the phone they asked me about broadband etc saying that they could save me money. Asked them to call me back while I research etc. Turns out that I missed call yesterday. Sky rang me again today, asking about broadband. I asked them to ring me in afternoon while I discuss with family. We decide that the CPW TV only deal was best for us. Then Sky rang they said that my offer was subject to taking BB also. I said No, it wasnt because I rang about the CPW deal two days ago, when it was on offer so they should honour it, namely €15pm. They said no, I said fine, get lost . Good deals will come again no doubt with SKy.Rang CPW Greystones straight after and they said deal over two days ago !!

Zoe zebra

Carphone warehouse have a new deal at the moment-half price packages. Don't leave it too late this time Sasso! ;-)

Sasso wrote: »

Bloody bloody hell. Rang up about three days ago about this offer. All great. Then while on the phone they asked me about broadband etc saying that they could save me money. Asked them to call me back while I research etc. Turns out that I missed call yesterday. Sky rang me again today, asking about broadband. I asked them to ring me in afternoon while I discuss with family. We decide that the CPW TV only deal was best for us. Then Sky rang they said that my offer was subject to taking BB also. I said No, it wasnt because I rang about the CPW deal two days ago, when it was on offer so they should honour it, namely €15pm. They said no, I said fine, get lost . Good deals will come again no doubt with SKy.Rang CPW Greystones straight after and they said deal over two days ago !!

Sasso

Thank you for heads up

LEIN

Seems they have upgraded our upload form 10Mb to 20Mb, on the 200Mb package.

Alun

LEIN wrote: »

Seems they have upgraded our upload form 10Mb to 20Mb, on the 200Mb package.

It's been like that for several weeks now. You need to reboot the modem to get the 'upgrade' though. Those on 120Mb get 12Mb upload.

LEIN

Ah, I rearranged the office a little and the modem was plugged out for a bit.

Did they mention anything? I didn't hear a thing.

Alun

LEIN wrote: »

Did they mention anything? I didn't hear a thing.

It was mentioned over in the Broadband forum a while back, and it was the same situation, i.e. someone happened to reboot their modem and discovered it by accident.

Over on the Talk to ... UPC forum, I seem to remember the UPC reps saying they're 'testing' the upgrade in some areas, and it may not necessarily remain a permanent feature.

LEIN

Alun wrote: »

It was mentioned over in the Broadband forum a while back, and it was the same situation, i.e. someone happened to reboot their modem and discovered it by accident.

Over on the Talk to ... UPC forum, I seem to remember the UPC reps saying they're 'testing' the upgrade in some areas, and it may not necessarily remain a permanent feature.

Thanks for the info.